The Enchanted Forest
by Lyn Fairy
Summary: What is really written in Henry's book? This is the story of the flashbacks, of what happened in the Enchanted Forest, before Regina cast the Dark Curse. Contains spoilers from the whole series and all characters.
1. Prologue

Once upon a time, in a world far, far away, ruled by magic and magical beings, there was the Enchanted Forest. Within this Forest, in one of its kingdoms, there lived a good man, named Rumpelstiltskin who had been abandoned by his father, who had been dubbed a coward. Trying to avoid the label given to his father, a man he barely knew, Rumpelstiltskin wanted to prove himself brave. He wanted to silence the people of his village. His opportunity presented itself when he was called to fight in the Ogre Wars, vicious battles that had been haunting the kingdom. His wife, Milah, was hesitant at first, but ambitious, she wanted the glory of being married to a war hero, and she let him go. He went and he fought.

However, in a wintry, snowy and very cold day, Rumpelstiltskin was tasked to watch over a prisoner. That prisoner was not simply any prisoner. She was a child. No more than six or seven years old, the little girl had her eyelids sewed and her eyes rested on her hands. She was a Seer. Capable of seeing all there was, all there is, and all there was going to be. And she told Rumpelstiltskin many things, including that Milah had borne him a son, and that his actions in the following day would leave that son fatherless. Rumple, as Milah and his adoptive family called him, didn't believe her at first, but then the day and the night went by and all her other predictions came through. Frightened that he would die the following day in the battlefield, without the chance to meet his son, who would then have the same destiny as his to grow up without a father, he injured himself, breaking his right leg beyond repair and was then sent home.

But news raveled fast from the battlefront and before he made it home, the whole village knew he had injured himself and his label as coward as cemented. But Rumple didn't care. All he cared about was his son. His precious son. And Rumple promised, in the very first time little Baelfire was in his father's arms, that he would never leave him. That he would not be fatherless. This is how this story begins, and how it will eventually end. The love of a father for his son, a love that grew uncontrollable and dangerous to an obsession. An obsession that, besides leaving Baelfire fatherless, would destroy uncountable lives in the way. Even those of Rumple's own family.


	2. 01 The coward and the Dark One

Chapter 1: The coward and the Dark One

As it was said before, the Enchanted Forest was quite big, with several kingdoms. It's not known precisely, as this passed over 300 years ago, in which kingdom exactly did Rumple, Milah and Bae live. Especially because borders are easily changed. But it is in every way unfortunate that The Captain decided to dock right in their village. But destiny has some of these things. Call it black humor or irony, however you like.

Some years had passed and Baelfire had grown up a bit and was now a six-year-old handsome and smart boy. Milah never forgave her husband for deserting the army and became bitter. Their once happy marriage was now reduced to nothing. Rumple did everything for Milah and especially Bae, his beloved Bae, but Milah hated her life and spent many, many nights in the tavern.

One of these nights, having just come from several months at sea, Killian Jones, The Captain, and his crew also happened to be in the tavern, with his dark pirate charm, and many tales of adventures. Milah, desperate to escape the sameness of her sad life, was immediately drawn in. Used to having as many women as he so desired, Killian first thought of the sad housewife as fresh meat, another woman to fall for his most times exaggerated tales and the unknown, the novelty he represented. Neither of them expected to fall in love. But destiny has some of these things. Apparently the Greek Cupid had some counterpart, maybe a lost cousin, in that land and that unimaginable duo, the wife of the village coward and the brave, adventurous pirate fell in love. Rumplestiltskin tried to "save" his wife, but the allure was too big for Milah to resist and she escaped. Ran way, leaving husband and son behind, no looking back. Rumple tried going to the docks to prevent Killian from leaving with his wife, begging the Captain not to leave his son motherless, but it was useless. Coward that he was, especially being crippled, he refused to duel the Captain, who left with Milah.

But Rumple put that aside and went on taking care of his son, his beloved son, until Bae grew to be a few days short of his fourteenth birthday. The Ogre Wars were still happening, and killing, and destroying the land. Because of the many years the war had been raging, there was a shortage of men and even of women, so the ruler of that region, a cruel Duke, using to his advantage the control he had over the evil Dark One, declared all children of 14 or more able to fight and therefore obligated to leave their family and go to the battlefront. Rumple watched his neighbors being taken and immediately grew scared. Bae was brave, and wanted to go, but his father would not hear of it. So two nights before the fourteenth birthday of Bae, Rumple woke his son in the middle of the night and together they escaped their village. But the soldiers were roaming the roads, expecting fugitives, and they were caught.

That was an unfortunate encounter in more ways than one. The leader of the soldiers recognized Rumplestiltskin and told all the other, including Bae, of his cowardice. Upon leaving, he also said they would back in two days time to get Baelfire to fight in the war. And lastly, a beggar that was passing went to help Rumple, who had been thrown to the ground by the soldier. As gratitude, Rumple offered him a warm meal.

Over dinner, the beggar told Rumple of the power the Duke had over the Dark One. Even beyond one of the most powerful beings of the Enchanted Forest, the Dark One had a weakness – his dagger. At this point maybe it would be wise to explain what exactly "the Dark One" was. Because this was not restricted merely to one person or being, it was a curse, a curse as old as time itself. Long, long ago, when the Enchanted Forest first came to be, it was born tow ancient powers, Good and Evil, who would then keep the balance of the magic of the realm. Good took the form of Reul Ghorm, who today we call the Blue Fairy. There are other fairies, of course, but those came much later and don't have nearly as much power as the original one, their leader. Evil took the form of the Dark One. And he was indeed evil. We don't know the name of the first Dark One, only his powers, his curse survived. He spread pain and death and despair across the real and across time. But mind you, he, like the Blue Fairy, was not human, so it was impossible to call on his humanity, for he had none. Also, not being human, he didn't have the weakness of death. One day, a couple of centuries later and still several centuries ago, a mage ran into a discordance with him. Obviously, it didn't end well. The mage then spent almost two decades looking for a way to eradicate the Dark One, obtaining revenge. The mage's solution came in the form of a dagger. A dagger that had mixed in its metal a single strand of hair of the Dark One, that the mage was able to obtain from their confrontation. The only weapon able to hurt in any way this most powerful creature. What the mage couldn't anticipate, of course, was that by using the dagger, he would not merely kill the Dark One, but become it himself. He could kill the vessel, but not the power. Darkness had to exist to balance light. It's how the world works. For that, the dark power had to find a new vessel. That's the origin of the Dark One Curse. By using the dagger to kill the Dark One, whoever wields the weapon become himself the Dark One. Also, because the dagger had a strand of hair of the original Dark One, possessing the dagger granted its possessor the ability to control the power, to control the Dark One. For that reason, this is a secret most well kept.

And it's part of this tale the beggar told Rumple in that disastrous night. He said the Duke controlled the Dark One because he possessed the dagger. But were Rumplestiltskin to steal the dagger, he could control the Dark One or, as Rumple said he'd be terrified, the beggar said he could take the power. Clever manipulation, all clever manipulation and at that point poor Rumple was gullible. Most unfortunate since, were Rumple to realize the consequences of his action, he'd never have set the Duke's castle on fire, stolen the dagger, or driven it through the Dark One's heart. Who, surprisingly, happened to be the beggar. Zoso, for this was his name, told Rumple that the Dark One's power was a curse, a burden, and that now it was Rumple's turn to endure it. But Rumple finally found himself. Always a coward (even though he had tried to escape it, he couldn't), weak, afraid, he was now immortal. No power could match him. Except, of course, the dagger, but that was a secret very well kept that Rumple did not intend to spread.

He wasn't all that evil, though. It's important to remember that Rumple's motivation to steal the dagger was not to become powerful for shallow reasons, but to be able to protect Bae. Bae, oh his precious Bae. If Rumple's love for his son was already bordering on obsessive and dangerous, it was now beyond so. He went to the battlefront, called a truce and ended the war, sending the children, along with the rest of the soldiers, home. He was a war hero. But it was not enough. Bae was righteous, correct and, above all, good. He loved his father very much, although he rarely thought of his mother, whom he thought dead. He hated when his father killed, or hurt anyone for any reason, more so when the reason was futile. Slowly Bae started to resent magic, to resent what his father had became. The villagers were scared of him, for if he so much as got a scratch during a game, Rumple would chase the person, turn him into a snail and kill him.

Bae couldn't take it anymore, so he made a deal with his father: if Bae found a way to break the curse, would Rumple accept it? Would he break it? His love for his son was so great that he said yes. One day Bae's friend Morraine told him about Reul Ghorm, the other ancient power, the power who ruled the night. Bae was excited and waited until nightfall in the forest, and asked Reul Ghorm for a way to be with his father like it was before. The Blue Fairy's solution was extreme, and perhaps a bit selfish. She told Bae that his father's powers were exclusive to that real, where magic existed, but where they didn't belong. The only way to save Rumple was to send him to "A Land Without Magic", where he'd be normal again. She gave Bae a magic bean, the last one the fairies had, so he could open the portal.

But magic had become a crutch with which Rumple could not live without. Bae was brave enough to leave everything behind and go to a land where he knew nothing or no one, all to save his father. Bae was brave. Rumple was not. When the portal opened, he couldn't go through. He was scared of losing his powers. He was scared of the unknown. He let Bae go. And as soon as Bae went through the portal closed. And as soon as the portal closed and silence once again claimed the forest, Rumple regretted his decision. He wanted his son back. He _needed _his son back. So Rumple searched for the Blue Fairy, who said she had no way of helping Rumple. He in turn accused her of taking his son from him. She denied. And he vowed he would get Bae back, he would find a way. When told only a curse could do it, but at the cost of destroyed their world for the next, Rumple declared he would not rest until he had his son back. Rumple had no limits, and he had all the time in the world. He was immortal. That's how Rumple sealed his destiny. His actions left Bae fatherless. And he vowed not to rest until he was finally reunited with his son, oh his beloved son again.


	3. 02 The Seer and the Crocodile

Chapter 2: The Seer and the Crocodile

**Disclaimer: This chapter contains spoilers from episodes 2x14 "Manhattan" and 2x04 "The Crocodile" – don't read it if you haven't seen these episodes and doesn't want your surprise… well, spoiled. I also claim no rights or ownerships over the characters and the creativity of this story, I'm merely writing down what ABC shows us on TV.**

Grief is a powerful thing. When born out of a "normal", balanced love, it can be devastating, dangerous even. But Rumplestiltskin's love for Baelfire was not normal. It was above and beyond, it was unhealthy, it was unsafe. And now, this unbalanced love was to be combined with grief for the loss, however temporary, of the beloved person. All this cooking up inside a mind corrupted by dark magic, a mind that could hardly see the evil it spread.

Rumple remembered vividly about the Seer. That little brat of a girl who ruined his life. Well, she was right in saying his actions would leave his son fatherless but details are sometimes more important than the plot itself. He also knew the Blue Fairy was right and, at least for the moment, the means to create a curse so powerful and complex were not available to him. And he had a thirst to know about the future. To know what his mind already had as an absolute truth – that he would be, undeniably, reunited with his son. Grief can lead to madness. And madness is dangerous.

It took Rumplestiltskin almost half a year to track down the Seer. And that encounter, like the previous one, would seal another part of Rumple's life. The Seer, now a young woman, was tired. The future was a burden, a puzzle difficult to read, impossible to completely understand. Like Zoso, she wanted to be free of her power. And like Zoso, her power was a part of her and its loss meant her death. But we're getting ahead of ourselves.

Grief can lead to madness. And one of the symptoms of madness is paranoia. Though the Blue Fairy's action of providing Bae with means of escape were debatable, fact is that it was Bae who sought her help and it was Rumple who ultimately let him go. And though the Seer jumped over the details, she was merely using her gift to read the future, she didn't force Rumple to abandon Bae. But he couldn't see it, couldn't understand it like that. In his sick and corrupted mind, the world was conspiring to separate him from his son. And, remember, the Blue Fairy warned Rumple that the price for enacting a curse powerful enough to bring him to the same world as his son would result in the destruction of the Enchanted Forest. But Rumple was beyond caring. He couldn't care less for his homeland, nor for the people who lived there. All that paled in comparison to the being with his son again. So, Rumple sought out the Seer and he finally found her hiding in the woods.

As it was said, like Zoso the Seer was tired. Trying to decipher puzzles may be nice for a while but when your whole life is that and nothing more you're bound to get sick of it. She told Rumple that a curse would take everyone from that land. But Rumple would not cast the curse, nor would he break it. But only that wasn't enough. He wanted more, and the Seer saw in Rumplestiltskin the ideal person to help her and, because he wanted so much to know the future, he gladly accepted it when she offered him her powers. But the future is a mystery. Fragments of a story that you can never completely put together. It's like seeing the car coming in your direction, knowing it is going to hit you, and being unable to get to the sidewalk anyway.

Rumple took that burden from the Seer and, as gratitude, she offered him "a final piece of the puzzle": he would be reunited with his son. It would come by the hands of a boy. A young boy, who was more than what he seemed to be. A young boy, who would eventually be Rumple's undoing. And as the eyes on her hands closed and she rested at last, Rumple said that this last development would be simply solved – he would just have to kill the young boy. Destiny has some of these things. Obviously, Rumple didn't know who that boy would come to be (after all, it would still take over 300 years for him to be born, in another world), but at this point of the story that's irrelevant. Rumple left the Seer's camp without looking back at the dead girl in the forest's floor and went on his way to find a way to go after his son.

Days passing have no meaning when time cannot reach you. Rumple's goal was to find Bae, his beloved Bae, and you know how news travel fast for those interested in hearing them. Slowly it spread around the Enchanted Forest that the Dark One was looking for a way to go to a different land. One night, I can't say exactly how long after the episode in the forest, Rumple went to a tavern, where he would meet someone who supposedly could help him. Back in his human days, Rumple was a weaver. When magic came into his life, he started weaving straw into gold, a little quirk that gave him much, much wealth. So, when an opportunity to go after his son presented itself, he never cared about how much it would cost him. So, that night on the tavern, when a certain Mr. Smee declared to have a magical bean – the same kind of magical bean that had opened the portal that took Bae away, therefore, the kind of magical bean that could allow Rumple to go after his son – he was not worried about the cost. Except, this time, the cost was not money, but magic. Mr. Smee wanted eternal life, but only the Dark One and the Blue Fairy lived forever. So, Rumple promised to turn the clock backwards and turn Mr. Smee into a child again. As the "treasure hunter" left the tavern, after being threatened to having the clock turned forward and turned into dust in case he failed, Rumple had a pleasant yet unpleasant sight: the Captain. Well, unpleasant because he was, after all, the man who'd taken Milah from Rumple, but at the same time pleasant because, no longer a weak coward, Rumple could now avenge himself. He sat at the tavern, watching, and then, much later, followed the pirates out. Rumple was wearing a hood so when Killian first bumped into him, all the captain saw was his skin, his scaled greenish skin and laughingly said he had bumped into a crocodile. Rumple's mind had been corrupted by dark magic and his sense of humor was now… well, dark. While the pirates laughed, Rumple removed his hood and Killian recognized him.

It's weird that Rumple would ask for his wife, especially because his tone did not imply any sarcasm, and she had left him out of her own will and left Bae as well. But fact is, he did. Maybe his corrupted mind present him with the theory that Milah hadn't left but had been taken. And Killian's answer would also come as surprising: for a ruthless pirate, it was indeed at least curious that he would fall in love, much else lie to protect his beloved. But the heart is like that, the damned thing just does what it wants. So, Killian lied, said Milah had died long ago, and asked what Rumplestiltskin wanted. His answer was even simpler – a duel at the following day's dawn. "I'm not a cruel man," Rumple said, "get your affairs in order. Also, you can spend tonight knowing it will be your last." he smirked "Maybe I am cruel." And promising to find Killian and gut the entire crew like the fish in case he tried to escape, Rumple left.

There is no account of that, but is easily deduced that the captain had a… difficult day. After all, cockiness can only take you so far. So I guess it's certain to assert that in the following dawn it was with some apprehension that Killian went to face Rumple. When he arrived, a sword was thrown at his feet and Rumple told him to pick it up. Remember, Rumple's sense of humor was now… peculiar. And "killing a man with his own sword was just too delicious to pass up." Well, boys will be boys. The duel was unequal, of course, what with Rumple's advantages and, despite his excellent swordsmanship skills, it didn't take long for Killian to find himself on the ground and lacking a sword. He declared to be prepared for the sword, but Rumple had another idea.

"Do you know what is it like to have your wife stolen from you? To feel powerless to stop it? It feels like having your heart ripped out from your chest. Actually, let me show you." And it was when Rumple's hand was inside Killian's chest, ready to rip out his heart, that Milah herself appeared. Love is indeed a powerful thing, the most powerful magic of all. She asked Rumple not to hurt Killian, that she'd fallen in love with him. Rumple's sarcasm wasn't a surprise, actually, but Milah stopped him from "breaking up the power of True Love" by showing him Mr. Smee's hat. The deal was simple: the magic bean in exchange for Milah's and Killian's lives. Rumple said he wanted to see it first, which is not so unreasonable, until you remember he was the Dark One. He might not break deals, but he can definitely take what he wants. And he is most definitely not opposed to killing. When they got to the ship, Rumple was impressed with Milah's assertion of leadership and, even after seeing the magical bean, he still had a question before he closed the deal. Remember that Rumple had always had a corrupted love for Bae, a sick love, too big to be healthy, if one can indeed measure love. So he could never understand how Milah could leave her son behind voluntarily and not go back for him, when getting her son back would be so easy. Her answer might also not have been the best – though with Rumple's twisted judgment I don't believe there _was_ a right answer, but Milah said she'd let her misery cloud her judgment. Upon asked why she was so miserable, she made a fatal mistake. First… well, it's kind of rude to throw in someone's face that you've never loved him, especially if you were married for years and had a son. Second, you should never antagonize – especially insult this badly – someone stronger than you are. Especially if this person has the very nasty habit of killing others for no reason. So, obviously, Rumple's reaction at being told he was never loved was not a good one. He ripped Milah's heart out and as Killian held her and she told him she loved him, Rumple crushed her heart to dust, instantly killing her. It was a sad moment for Killian, not only did he have his beloved Milah die in his arms, completely helpless to prevent it, Rumple cut off his left hand, where he believed the magical bean was hidden.

Grief is a powerful thing. Filled with grief for the loss of his beloved, and anger, and pain for his lost hand, Killian grabbed the hook lying on the floor and buried it into Rumple's chest. But there is only one thing that can kill the Dark One, so Killian's attack was met with laughter. But grief is a powerful thing and Killian vowed to find a way to kill Rumple, regardless of the fact that he was more powerful. Laughingly, Rumple wished the Captain good luck living long enough and disappeared in a cloud of magic.

By taking the Captain's hand, Rumple believed he was also taking the magic bean, which he believed Killian was holding. But the pirate had outsmarted him and, as Rumple realized he'd been tricked, Captain Hook, because that was how he'd be known now, used the magic bean to escape to a certain land where no one grew old. But that is a story for another time.

**N/A: I'm so sorry it took so long, but college has been killing me. I'll try to get the next chapter up faster, I promise, since this week promises to be quieter. If I can't, however, the next chapter, which I intended to be on young Snow White, will be postponed to give place to the Miller's Daughter, what will make more sense chronologically. I hope Snow wins Cora, though.**


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